The second Worst Thing
by senzubean
Summary: Vegeta has mysteriously become smitten with a certain Blue hared woman and has no idea what he's going to do about it. Yes, I finally have a B&V get together fic! No, the Princess isn't finished. Sorry.
1. Fear Me!

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The Second Worst Thing 

Chapter 1: Fear Me!

By senzubean

I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.

**Authors Note:** _For three years I resisted the temptation! But I've gone and done it. I wrote a Bulma &Vegeta get together fic! Because, **apparently**, all Vegeta fans must do this, lest they not be **real** Vegeta fans. And I am a **real** Vegeta fan! So there! I hope it is at least somewhat original because I think every possible scenereo must've been done already._

Sorry I wrote this instead of finishing "The Princess" My roommate and Marie are both slavedrivers! I thought the red hot pokers were a little much though. On a plus note, this story is **finished**. Woohoo. Enjoy!

Bulma stared blankly at the columns of text filling her view. She half expected the newsprint to disintegrate under the glare originating from across the breakfast table. Calmly, she lowered her paper and met the cold, onyx eyes of her houseguest, who was fast wearing out his welcome.

"You can't _still_ be hungry." She said.

"Hmph."

The answer was slow in coming and was devoid of the condescending smirk that usually accompanied it. Bulma noted the change but was too frustrated to be impressed. He'd been staring at her like that for a good half hour now.

"What do you want, Vegeta?"

The saiyan prince stood then walked right past her. 

"When I want something, I'll tell you." He replied authoritatively as he exited the house.

Bulma clenched her fists around her newspaper and gritted her teeth. She turned her attention to the window and watched the cocky saiyan enter his precious gravity room.

"Asshole!" 

Vegeta stood in the threshold of his training capsule and observed all of his high tech equipment, most of which had been provided by Bulma. They were important tools, his key to unlocking the power of the legend, which Vegeta was positive he had inside of him. Yet, he did not eagerly bound to this priceless equipment today. Sweat rolled down his face and the vein near his temple swelled beneath his skin. He clenched his fists then embedded one into the wall of the capsule, distorting the metal considerably.

"I don't have time for this kind of distraction!" Vegeta yelled as if to remind himself. He didn't need reminding but he still could not avoid this diversion. The act of violence, meant to snap him out of this disturbing state of mind, failed miserably and only worsened the situation. He continued to stand there, sweating and edging to the brink of aneurysm.

"What is wrong with me?"

An hour later, Vegeta was pacing the floor vigorously trying to understand why.

It was all but incomprehensible to the Prince. This should not have been possible. He was a warrior. A cold-blooded killer. For more than twenty years his person had been all but inhospitable to any other emotion besides anger and its variants. He had no compassion, love, or respect for anything or anyone but himself. He had no time for that kind of bullshit.

Given that all of these things were true, Vegeta had no clue as to how this 'idea' had eeked it's way into his brain. There was one thing he did understand with crystal clarity, this idea had to go.

The Prince of all Saiyans could not fall in love. 

Especially not with _that_ woman.

Somehow, he had to nip this in the bud. He had to dig himself out of the ever deepening hole of hormones, for that was exactly what it was, a very bad case of raging hormones.

Nappa had explained this concept to him once. At the time, Vegeta had thought the commander to be touched in the head. Unlike the majority of teenage males of any species, girls were the last things on the Prince's mind. Defeating Frieza overshadowed everything. Nappa had warned him that if he left his 'natural urges' go unsatisfied they would accumulate, overtake him, and then make him insane. 

"Keep your mind off of my 'natural urges' and concentrate on not being an idiot!" Was what Vegeta remembered saying to Nappa. Who would've guessed that he'd actually be right about something? There was no logical reason why Vegeta would be naturally attracted to that know- it -all earthling unless a surplus of hormones were altering his judgment. These new emotions he was feeling had to be a by-product of insanity.

Vegeta could come up with only one solution. He had to determine what it was about Bulma that set his hormones afire, and take measures to reverse the effect she had on him. 

Two minutes later, he was in her lab.

"Woman!" he announced his presence in his most arrogant tone of voice. The authority and sheer authority of that one word pleased him greatly.

__

I would have made such a good king.

Bulma swiveled her office chair around to confront him. The look on her face was one that was blatantly un-intimidated.

"What?" she snapped at him.

Vegeta blinked. He hadn't actually planned this confrontation out, and he was at a loss as to what to say. That look on her face was making it impossible for him to think about anything other than how attractive she was when she was pissed.

"I haven't got all day!" She added.

Vegeta looked around as discreetly as he could, trying to spot something, anything that he could hassle her about. A mass of junk, a training bot he'd destroyed the afternoon before, lay on the table just beside Bulma's computer.

"Training equipment." He blurted out. He quickly regained his composure and set his face in a demanding scowl. "I need new training equipment."

"I just put new training equipment out there this morning." Bulma replied.

"I want better ones."

"Better ones?" Bulma erupted. "You haven't even used them yet!"

"How would you know that?" Vegeta yelled back defensively.

Bulma turned back to her computer. "You're not exactly quiet when you train. I didn't hear a peep out there all morning."

Vegeta's eyebrow quivered in ascending fury. How dare she dismiss him like that! 

"I want new training equipment now!" Vegeta yelled. This was not up for discussion. She had to learn to submit to him.

"No!" Bulma screamed right back. "Now get lost! The longer you bother me the longer it'll be before I make lunch!"

"IF YOU DON'T MAKE ME NEW ONE'S I'LL DESTROY YOU!"

"THEN YOU WON'T BE GETTING ANY AT ALL OR LUNCH EITHER!"

Vegeta snarled viciously at her. 

Bulma turned back to her computer, tossing a mass of silky turquoise hair over her shoulder, and calmly replied. "I'm not afraid of you, Vegeta."

Vegeta snapped out of his rage. That was it! She really wasn't afraid of him. He gaped at her as she typed, completely ignoring him.

"Go break your new equipment, then we'll talk about replacing them." She said as if she were dealing with a spoiled kid throwing a temper tantrum in a toy store.

Silently, he turned and left. He stopped in the hallway and leaned against the wall.

__

That damned woman isn't afraid of me in the least? Why does that turn me on? He side glanced at the doorway as to make sure that Bulma didn't see the state she'd put him in.

__

This needs to stop, but how? Antagonizing her had failed miserably. He needed another solution. _What would make her totally un-attractive to me?_ Vegeta thought about it for a second or so. _Well, if I was impressed by her fearlessness of me, then I would be un-impressed if she started to fear me. Now, how do I go about scaring that woman?_

His eyebrows arched evilly and a devious smirk passed over his lips. He swung back into the doorway and fired a blast at Bulma's back. Her computer exploded into a million bits. Bulma screeched at the top of her lungs. She jumped out of her chair and faced the Saiyan, who was chuckling evilly. Her face looked as if it would change from surprise and confusion to terror at any second. Vegeta laughed gleefully in his head.

__

Problem solved!

"HOW DARE YOU!" Bulma screamed. Vegeta's stomach fell. That was not something a petrified person would say. "IT'S BAD ENOUGH YOU DESTROY HOURS UPON HOURS OF MY HARD WORK WHEN YOU BREAK THOSE STUPID SPARRING BOTS, BUT NOW YOU'VE STARTED TO DESTROY MY PERSONAL THINGS TOO!"

Vegeta decided to try his plan one more time. He shot another power ball, this time disintegrating her desk, along with a good chunk of wall. Bulma turned around and looked at the bright blue sky and the now scorched lawn. She screamed at the top of her lungs again. Unfortunately for Vegeta, the scream was distinctively the product of rage.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? WHY ARE YOU DESTROYING MY HOUSE?"

"It's your own fault, woman! If you would stop being so dammed insubordinate and submit to me..."

"SUBMIT TO YOU? IN YOUR DREAMS SHORTY!"

"WHAT?" Vegeta bellowed. Had she just called him what he thought she did?

"Look at this!" Bulma stated as she looked at the now gaping hole exposing her lab to the outside world. "This will take forever to fix! I'll never get anything done in here!"

Vegeta couldn't believe that this was happening. He had missed hitting her both times by a matter of inches and she wasn't even frazzled. She was actually more concerned about the state of her laboratory than the fact he had just made an attempt on her life. This woman was completely amazing. She looked danger right in the eyes, and then taunted it. She would not submit to her obvious superiors. She was completely insane.

__

She's like a damned saiyan!

"I should just kill you!" Vegeta spat. _That's the easiest way to solve this ridiculous problem!_

Bulma planted her hands on her hips and glared.

"Go ahead. I dare ya."

At that point, Vegeta retreated from the room. Bulma blinked, flabbergasted at that reaction. She was expecting him to yell some more at least. Seconds later she heard the door to the guest room he sometimes slept in slam.

Bulma stood there wondering why he had retreated like that. Then a bird flew into the room through the hole in the wall and started to encircle her head, squawking and flapping in her face. Bulma realized that this had been just one of the many annoyances Vegeta had caused since she had made the unfortunate mistake of asking him to live with her family. At this moment, she had absolutely no idea as to why she had felt sorry for that asshole in the first place. This was the last straw. This time he would be punished.

Vegeta lay on his bed with his face buried in his pillow. 

__

She dared me to kill her. She had to dare me into considering killing her, and then I didn't! I couldn't kill her!

He jumped off the bed and looked around.

__

I'm acting like a damned idiot and wasting precious time!

He marched out of the room intent on going straight back to his gravity room.

"I'll just have to ignore her."

A loud explosion rocked the house and thick black smoke covered all the windows. Vegeta took notice of it but wasn't concerned. Not until he got outside.

The gravity room had been reduced to a smoldering mass of scrap just like Bulma's computer and laboratory wall. Bulma walked right past Vegeta, who's jaw looked like it could touch the grass any second.

"What did you do?" He exclaimed.

"You're not the only one who can blow stuff up."

Bulma left him shocked and appalled on the lawn.

The gravity room had long stopped smoking when Vegeta finally spoke. "I'm going to ask the old man to fix it." Vegeta decided. "I have to avoid that woman at all costs."


	2. Super Saiya..er..spy?

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The Second Worst Thing 

Chapter 2: Super Saiya…er…Spy?

By senzubean

I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.

Three weeks past. Vegeta had managed to make very little contact with Bulma. He hadn't realized he was in her company so much. But this solution didn't have the effect he hoped it would. He'd get into an excellent state of mind for training. Then just as he felt he was beginning to make progress again, just when he'd finally gotten Bulma out of his mind, he would see her in the back yard through the window, or hear her voice through the metal walls. Then it would start all over again. His hormones would take control of his mind.

He considered leaving the planet, but that was extremely inconvenient not to mention cowardly. The Prince of all Saiyans refused to run away from his dilemmas. 

Vegeta stopped his shadow boxing and stared off into space.

"There has to be a way to break that woman." Vegeta stated. "She must have a weakness. Everyone has a weakness. Everyone except for me."

He racked his brain, but could come up with nothing. Although he had spent a considerable amount of time with her, considerable for the amount of free time Vegeta allowed himself that is, he could not recall one instance where she had shown weakness.

There was only one thing for him to do. He needed to reverse his strategy and cling to the woman like saran wrap.

__

But I have to do it so she won't get suspicious. She noticed right away that I had been staring at her during breakfast three weeks ago. I will have to employ extreme stealth if I am to gain any insight into that bewildering mind of hers.

Ten minutes later Vegeta peered around the kitchen doorway at his subject. Bulma was talking on the phone.

"So, you don't see them very much?" Bulma paused, listening to the other end. "Typical men, their stomach reminds them where they live." Pause again. "Vegeta?" Pause. "Everything's all right here. I haven't seen him in three weeks. The only way I can tell he's still here is how quickly the cupboards go bare." Pause "He's been scarce ever since I blew up his training capsule. I think I scared him off." She laughed.

Vegeta was not impressed.

"What! That's crazy! He does not!" Bulma exclaimed. "That guy doesn't like anyone but himself!"

Vegeta went bug eyed. They were talking about him… and her...together..in that way!

__

I need to hear the other end of this conversation.

Vegeta snuck into the living room as quickly as he could without making a racket then retreated into the hallway. He rushed from room to room searching for another phone line. For some reason there was a significant lack of telephones in the Briefs household.

__

They have twelve TV's on the first floor alone but only one damn phone!

Finally, he found one. In his room. 

Vegeta wanted to curse loudly, but he had already lost time. He very carefully picked up the phone and made a point to muffle the speaking end with his hand.

"Well the next time they bring fish home, tell them you've already cooked something else."

Vegeta slammed the phone down in disgust. The only thing he'd learned was that Kakarrot's family ate a lot of fish. Vegeta was mildly discouraged but he quickly reminded himself that this would take time. Valuable time that could be better used for training, but until this problem was solved he wasn't going to get any training done anyway.

This is how Vegeta became Bulma's shadow.

Wherever Bulma went, Vegeta was close behind and in a concealed place. He managed to listen to all of her phone conversations and learned all kinds of unimportant things. She went to bed between 1AM and 3AM every morning then woke up between 12 PM and 3PM the next afternoon. She would then putter about in her lab, still in her nightgown, which was usually either yellow or pink. She'd clean herself up in time for dinner, which she would eat with her parents and himself whenever he felt like joining them. The rest of her time she spent doing useless things like reading magazines, watching TV, or talking on the phone. For instance, Bulma liked to order things from catalogues. She especially liked shoes. Sometimes she called psychic hotlines for the fun of it. One woman with a very peculiar accent informed Bulma that she saw a dark figure following her about. Vegeta nearly exploded on the other end. All his hard work ruined by some crazy woman and her uncanny ability to guess. After Bulma hung up she laughed her head off and Vegeta heaved a sigh of relief.

He also learned some very important things. Bulma was infinitely stubborn, yet extremely patient. This confused Vegeta somewhat. How can a stubborn person be patient? It had to be either or. But Bulma proved that wrong. She could fight with someone over the phone for hours then end the conversation on a friendly note. Despite the fact that Vegeta had pissed her off to no end with his little ki-throwing rampage in her lab, she still greeted him happily whenever he consciously ran into her in the house. 

This was all important, but it was somewhat inconsequential. Vegeta needed to frighten her and he had learned nothing about what struck fear in that heart of hers, and it pissed Vegeta off to no end that that thing, obviously, was not him. Unlike Bulma, Vegeta was not patient in the least and he had just about enough of following her boring activities. 

__

That's it! I can't take this anymore! What the hell is the matter with me? I can't become a super saiyan! I can't get that woman off my back! Damn it! DAMN IT!

Without really knowing what he was doing, Vegeta barged into the living room where the entire Briefs family had assembled. 

"You kids behave yourselves while we're gone." Dr.Briefs joked as he picked up his suitcase from the carpet.

"Right Dad." Bulma groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want to come, Sweetie? It'll be so much fun lying on that beautiful beach all day." Mrs. Briefs said to Bulma.

"Forget the beach. I hear there's some amazing new discoveries being unveiled at the Scientists Convention this year." Dr. Briefs disagreed.

"But who will come to the beach with me?" Mrs. Briefs exclaimed. "Vegeta!" 

Vegeta cringed at the eardrum shattering pitch in which his name was uttered. "You could come to the beach with me, and Bulma and her Dad could go to see all that confusing science stuff. What do you say? You work so hard all the time, you deserve a vacation!"

"That is utterly ridiculous. I don't have time for a 'vacation'!"

"Vegeta's right, we can't just sit around and relax. Not with those androids coming."

"Hmph!" Vegeta grunted in disgust. She wasn't doing a thing in regards to the androids. What was she talking about?

"But Hon..."

"No buts, Dad. I'm not going. Besides, someone has to be here to make sure his highness over there doesn't wreck the place!"

"I don't need a baby-sitter." Vegeta replied.

"Says you." Bulma replied. 

Dr. and Mrs. Briefs said their goodbyes and left. As soon as they were out the door she confronted Vegeta. 

"I mean it. I don't want any horrible messes." Vegeta crossed his arms unimpressed. "And you can quit following me around too. Dad rushed to get that stupid gravity room fixed for you and you haven't even been using it."

"Y..you knew I was…" Vegeta stammered in utter shock.

"Hiding around corners? Listening to my phone conversations? If you want to get to know me you can do what normal people do and ask."

"You knew all this time!? Why didn't you say something!? Vegeta bellowed. He had tracked her like a hunter, if she had've been a deer in the forest she would've been dead. Not only had he not learned anything valuable he had completely wasted his time. He hadn't been this angry since he'd met that purple haired super saiyan a few months back. "When did you figure it out?"

"Long ago. I was on to you since the day you slammed the phone down in my ear while talking to Chi-Chi. And again, the gravity room was silent for far longer than it aught to have been if you were training in there. If you didn't want me to know, you shouldn't have been so sloppy."

"Sloppy? Sloppy! WHAT DO YOU MEAN I SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SO SLOPPY? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT STEALTH? ALL YOU DO IS SIT AROUND AND DO POINTLESS THINGS ALL DAY LONG! YOU ARE A COMPLETELY USELESS PERSON! I DON'T KNOW WHY I WOULD EVEN CONSIDER YOU A POTENTIAL….." Vegeta forcefully stifled himself, practically choking on the words he dare not utter to anyone. 

"Consider me a potential what?" Bulma demanded to know. She planted her hands on her hips and stared at him, determined not to budge until she had an answer.

Vegeta glared right back, determined not to give that answer.

"Give up this game, Vegeta. I know you find me interesting for some reason. Just tell me what it is. It's obviously driving you to new peaks of insanity, so just spit it out."

"Hmph!" Vegeta grunted and then smirked. "Congratulations, Woman. You've managed to get me so angry that for once I had no idea what I was saying."

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Bulma screamed in response to that. With difficulty she regained her composure. "Fine, you want to continue this pathetic little game, so be it. Until you tell me the end of that sentence you yelled at me I will not make you meals, I will not build you new training equipment and heaven forbid that gravity room should conk out because I will not fix it! I don't care what's coming in three years and how valuable your _talents_ will be on that battle field!"

Vegeta was un-moved by all this. "I accept your challenge, woman. Until you re-instate your services to me I will _not_ stop following you and I _will_ make messes at my choosing, I will become your worst nightmare! You will wish you had never invited me here!"

With that they sent one last intense glare at each other, 'hmph'd', turned on their heels and marched out of the room in opposite directions. Seconds later, Vegeta reappeared and went out the way Bulma did, remembering what he had vowed to do.


	3. A Favor

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The Second Worst Thing 

Chapter 3: A Favor

By senzubean

I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.

If Bulma knew how futile her vow to cease all provisions to Vegeta was, she would've thought twice about doing it. Vegeta had no problem hunting for his own food and since he hadn't been in any state of mind to do any training, he actually wasn't missing it too much. He was finally making some progress in his quest to get Bulma to loath and fear him and that made him happier than any amount of training would have.

He started by lingering in any room she would go in. She'd pull out a magazine and pretend to ignore him. Vegeta would then pretend to amuse himself by examining objects that were strategically placed about the space. When he got tired of looking at something, or handling something, often he would destroy it. This seemed to piss Bulma off, but still she said nothing.

After two days they ran out of food in the kitchen and Bulma started to eat out. Vegeta started a little habit of going hunting, bringing it back with him, and leaving the carcass in the kitchen, or the living room, or her bedroom, when he was finished. This was always funny. Who knew that watching someone puke could be entertaining.

The major progress began when he started to follow her everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. When she would go to bed he would be there. She soon had to get dressed and undressed under the bed covers. She would go to sleep with him staring at her and wake up with him staring at her. 

Once she decided to go out and he followed her to the mall. He made it a point to make an ass out of himself wherever they went and started to destroy stuff that didn't yet belong to her. Fed up, she tried to get rid of him by going to the ladies room. Vegeta followed her right in and had the double pleasure of embarrassing the hell out of her and every other woman who came in. 

It was when he followed her into the bathroom at home that finally clinched it.

"That's it! I can't take it anymore! You win! You happy? You win, you god damn asshole! Now get out of here and let me piss in peace!"

Vegeta grinned evilly. He did it. She loathed him .She had conceded defeat and now she would do what he wanted. She was stubborn, but not too stubborn for him. Still it took a good week.

"I didn't think you'd last this long." Vegeta replied. "I'm impressed."

The words had barely passed his lips when he realized that he had accomplished nothing. Yet he had never had more fun in his life. He liked the fact she hated him! Bulma glared venomously at him. She may hate every atom of his being but she sure as hell didn't fear him.

"DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!" Vegeta started yelling.

"GET THE HELL OUT!" Bulma screamed and started to throw whatever she could get her hands on at him. 

Vegeta retreated, not knowing what he was going to do now. The toilet plunger beamed him good as he exited, then she slammed the door after him and locked it. As if that would help if he decided to get back in.

When she eventually stopped hyperventilating, Bulma started to ponder the Saiyan Prince's strange behavior. 

__

Why would he go to so much trouble just to torment me? He's not training at all and he's being damned immature too. That's not at all like how he was acting before. Bulma sat on the fuzzy mat on the floor and continued to contemplate. _He's acting kinda like schoolboys do when they like a girl. _Bulma blinked, stunned. She remembered her conversation with Chi-Chi. _"He keeps staring at me for no good reason! It's driving me nuts."_ To which Chi-Chi replied. _"Well maybe he likes you."_ _Vegeta likes me? _Bulma couldn't believe it. Her eyebrows furrowed as she remembered what Vegeta had done to her that day. _Well I don't like him much!_

Vegeta remained standing opposite the bathroom door._ Damn stupid hormones! That's it! There's only one other thing that I can do. I have to purge myself of this… sexual tension._ Vegeta shuddered at the thought of him being so weak. _If I had've known this would happen I would have done what Nappa and Raditz did and screwed any female I could get my hands on._

Bulma stepped out of the bathroom, saw Vegeta standing directly in front of her and opened her mouth to yell something.

"I need…a favor." Vegeta stated solemnly, trying to be polite so maybe she would consider his proposal.

"A favor? After everything you did to me over the last week you have the audacity to ask me for a favor?!" Bulma huffed and started to walk away.

"I need to copulate with you."

That halted her. 

"Copulate?" Bulma asked dumb-foundedly. "You mean have sex?"

"Yes, that's another word for it."

"What?"

"It was a simple question." Vegeta replied getting somewhat exasperated. This situation was awkward even for him.

"No! My god no! I can't believe you Saiyans! The things you consider normal!"

"I don't consider this normal!" Vegeta bellowed. "This is probably the worst thing that could have happened to me!"

Bulma looked at him skeptically. "Falling in love with me is worse than anything? Even Goku being better than you?"

"No, this is second to that! And Kakarrot is not better than me! And I did not fall in love with you!" Vegeta yelled.

"That's good, because I am not in love with you, I'm in love with Yaumcha. So get that silly crush of yours out of your head. Remember the conditions I gave you in the woods before you came here? Well, it's obvious you find me seductive but you're _not allowed_ to jump all over me! And if you do I'll tell Goku, then you'll get it!"

Vegeta's mouth dropped in appall. "I am not afraid of Kakarrot!"

"Right."

Vegeta screamed unintelligible words at her back as she left.

__

She thinks I'm afraid of Kakarrot! I can't believe this! He was at a loss as to what else he could do; he didn't know how to fix this. 

In the living room, Bulma heard the door to the guest room slam. 

"There's seriously something wrong with him." Bulma stated as she scanned the mess she had to clean up. "Copulate?" Bulma started to giggle. "That's gotta be the worst pick-up line ever!"

Vegeta paced back and forth in his room. 

__

I have never been so ashamed of myself! This is worse than that low-classed moron making a complete mockery of my Royal Ancestry is! This is a low-classed alien woman making a mockery of my manhood! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I have to kill her…or at least rape her…but…I…couldn't.

Vegeta screamed at the top of his lungs in rage. 

"I'VE BECOME WEAK! WEAK!"

Then all of a sudden it dawned on him. Merely having sex with her wouldn't help him at all. He wanted more than that. Her abrasiveness made him like her.. Love her. But now she loathed him with the power of a thousand ki blasts and then there was that idiot Yaumcha. Tormenting her, getting her undivided attention was the most enjoyable experience he'd ever had. Then those times in her room at night, he found it excessively easy to stare at her for hours on end. Somehow he felt safe in that room with her and he wanted to stay there forever.

__

Shit. I've chosen her as my life-mate. But she hasn't chosen me.

The next day, Dr. and Mrs. Briefs came home. 

"You should have come to the beach with me, Sweetie! You must've been awfully lonely here by yourself." Mrs. Briefs said to Bulma as soon as she'd gotten in the door.

"I wouldn't say that." Bulma replied in annoyance. 

"Where's Vegeta? I don't think he's in the gravity room." Dr. Briefs asked.

"I don't know where he is and I don't care." Bulma snapped thinking about how late she had been up trying to scrub the blood and scorch marks from the rugs.

"That's a little odd, don't you think?" Dr. Briefs said concerned.

"Oh he's odd all right!" Bulma said. She thought about the way he'd been acting and although it was incredibly annoying, she had to admit it was a little charming. And flattering. He was a prince, and an arrogant one at that, yet he had chosen her to lust after. 

__

Maybe he wouldn't be that bad of a boyfriend. He is kinda cute. And he's paid more attention to me in the last couple of weeks than Yaumcha has in the last five years! Bulma pondered this, all while her parents were staring at her waiting for her to acknowledge their presence.

__

What am I thinking? Vegeta my boyfriend? That jerk's insanity is catching!

"Whatch'ya thinking' about so hard Hun? You're being so serious. And Grumpy." Mrs. Briefs said.

"Sorry Mom. I'm just a bit tired. I think I'll go take a nap." _My head is spinning thinking about this._ Bulma walked to her bedroom. Dr. Briefs stared after her.

"I wonder if something happened while we were gone?"

"Don't be silly! Want some tea?"

Dr. and Mrs. Briefs were in the kitchen preparing their snack when Vegeta slunk in. He looked at them, turned, then started to slink away.

"Vegeta! There you are! We were worried about you since you weren't in your spaceship thingy. Would you like a few hundred sandwiches?"

Vegeta turned his head enough to look at her. "I'm not hungry." He said in a very un-Vegeta like voice. 

"Are you feeling all right, son?" Dr. Briefs asked concerned.

There was a long pause, then Vegeta responded with a very weak "Hmph." Then he slunk back towards his room.

"Oh dear. He's sick!" Mrs. Briefs said.

Dr. Briefs stared after him worried.

Bulma walked out of her bedroom hours later. She had thought long and hard about Vegeta and after a good sleep she felt better. She decided that she no longer hated him, but she was still upset with him. She understood that he probably had a hard time establishing relationships with people. For all she knew this was the first one he had ever tried to make. This meant she had to be careful. He was making progress; one wrong move from her could send him spiraling back down the path of evil he'd long treaded. Still, she didn't see herself ever loving him like he obviously wanted. And she still wanted respect from him. A relationship between any two people needed respect and he wasn't showing her or her family any at all.

She stood in the living room at the picture window. Vegeta was in his gravity room again. Whether he was training or not, she didn't know, but at least he was in there. She considered going out there to talk to him, but decided against it. 

__

It won't do any good to rush into this. I need to think some more. Damned Saiyan, why'd you have to choose me? I don't want this responsibility!


	4. Breaking Up is Easy. Getting Together is...

****

The Second Worst Thing 

Chapter 4: Breaking up is Easy. Getting together is not.

By senzubean

I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.

Vegeta awoke with a start. Cold water dripped down his face and welled in his ears. There was also something protruding from his mouth. 

"There! That's better I bet!" the ultra cheerful voice of Mrs. Briefs called out and she shoved her smiling face right into Vegeta's line of vision.

Vegeta spat out what he discovered to be a thermometer and sat bolt upright letting the sopping wet washcloth fall into his lap with a plop.

"Vegeta! Lie back down! How do you ever expect to get better if you don't rest?" Mrs. Briefs said sternly then giggled.

"Woman! Are you insane? Sneaking up on a sleeping Saiyan is a good way to get yourself killed!"

"Oh you would never kill me! We're too good friends for you to do that. Now lie down, you'll only get sicker."

"I am not sick!"

"Well there's obviously something the matter with you, or else you wouldn't be acting so weird!"

"There's nothing the matter."

"Don't lie to me." Mrs. Briefs sing songed.

"I'm not lying."

"Yes you are." Mrs. Briefs continued then laughed. "C'mon, you'll feel better if you tell me what's wrong."

"No I won't!"

"So there is something wrong then?"

"No! I didn't..There's nothing…. Damn it woman! You're driving me insane!"

"So, is he sick?" Dr. Briefs asked as he walked in the room.

"He said he's not. But I bet he'd say that anyway. Bulma would." She turned to Vegeta. "You know, you and Bulma are a lot alike."

"I- am- not -sick." Vegeta replied ever so patiently. In fact, he realized that this situation was utterly preposterous and he got up to leave.

"But where are you going?" Mrs. Briefs exclaimed.

"Vegeta and I are going to configure the gravity room." Dr. Briefs replied before Vegeta could snap at her.

"We are?" Vegeta asked.

"Maybe if we set the gravity higher it'll help get rid of whatever's on your mind."

"Hmph" Vegeta responded and followed.

Mrs. Briefs blinked confused. Then smiled. 

"Would you like me to make some lemonade?"

"So, how much higher do you want it?" Dr. Briefs asked as he opened the control panel and took his favorite screwdriver from his coat pocket.

"Don't patronize me," Vegeta replied. " I know you didn't come out here to set the gravity higher." 

"Can't get anything past you." Dr. Briefs chuckled and pulled out a box of cigarettes. He held them out to Vegeta, who gave him a disgusted look. "Right, should've known better. Nasty habit. Bad to start but hard to get rid of."

"Hmph!"

Dr. Briefs reached into the circuitry and started to tinker around. "I'll cut to the chase. We've all noticed, that you've been acting a little different lately."

"This place is different than what I'm used to."

"You seemed to be adjusting just fine up until a few weeks ago."

"It's no one's concern but mine."

Dr. Briefs looked over his shoulder at him and smiled knowingly. "Sometimes it's nice to have some advice. Or at least someone who's willing to listen."

Vegeta normally would've snapped 'Mind your own business' at the strange man but for some reason he was actually intrigued.

"Why do you care about what's troubling me?"

Dr. Briefs went back to his tinkering.

"Someone has to care about you. It wouldn't be fair otherwise."

"Life isn't fair. A strong person learns how to deal with that."

"Or ignore it."

Vegeta was taken aback by that blunt statement.

Dr. Briefs closed the panel. "Tell me, son. When was the last time someone showed they cared for you?"

Vegeta stared at him blankly pondering whether or not to answer. 

"A..long time ago." He replied quietly.

"I assumed so. You know, Bulma, her Mom and I care about you very much."

"Why?" Vegeta asked. He had never given them a reason. He gave them reason to do the exact opposite.

Dr. Briefs shrugged. "It's hard to explain why. We just do." He walked past him towards the door. "No one's going to hurt you here Vegeta. I promise. I added another 100 g's to the machine for you to train with. Don't hurt yourself."

Vegeta stared at the door long after Dr. Briefs had gone, his mind spinning out of control. 

Later that evening, Bulma walked into the dining room expecting to have dinner with her Mother and Father. She was hoping Vegeta would be there too, although she suspected he wouldn't be. Instead of the cocky Saiyan prince, there was Yaumcha, having tea with her Mother and Father.

"Look who's come back for a visit, Sweetie." Her mother chirped.

Bulma folded her arms and glared at him.

"Hey Bulma."

"Hmph." Bulma scoffed.

"Um, well now." Dr. Briefs said uncomfortably and then coughed. "Why don't we leave you two alone to..er..talk." He took his wife's arm trying to get the hint across. Of course, his wife wasn't getting it. "But we were just in the middle of discussing the pies I bought from that new place."

"You can discuss that some other time. The kids need their privacy."

Bulma's mother giggled thinking that her daughter and Yaumcha were going to reconcile again.and went happily along with her husband.

"Your Mom is a nice lady." Yaumcha said after the 'grown ups' had left.

Bulma glared at him and Yaumcha laughed nervously.

"Listen, I just came here to tell you that..."

"...I was wrong and I'm sorry." They both said in unison.

Bulma huffed in disappointment. "You realize that's what you've said every time you've come back, don't you?"

"Well, yeah." Yaumcha replied. "But.."

"But nothing. How much longer is this going to go on?" 

"I'm done, I promise!"

"I've heard that promise before."

"Listen Bulma, I've really thought long and hard about it this time and I really think I'm ready for… for a family now."

"A family?" Bulma asked somewhat shocked. "Where did you get that idea."

"Well, from Goku. Remember what he said to you. About...about..a..baby?"

"Goku doesn't know what he's talking about!" Bulma exploded.

"But I think he's right. We should settle down. We'll have a better relationship if we do."

"What does Goku know about creating a better relationship? He created his relationship with Chi-Chi when he was too young to understand what one was between a man and a woman and didn't think about it again until their wedding day!" Bulma replied.

"I can't keep going on like this. I was a vagabond my whole life, I want to be something different now. So, let's start a family. You and I, right now."

"Right now, Yaumcha?" Bulma spat, she walked across the living room and began to rummage in the end able. "Right now with those androids coming in two years!"

"I..I.."

"Forgot?" Bulma finished his sentence, then threw a little black book at him, Yaumcha plucked it out of his lap but didn't open it. "Have you forgotten about all of them too?"

"This is old, Bulma. I don't even think of these girls anymore! All I think of is you!"

"I think about them. How you'd rather spend your time with them than with me."

"I was just trying to experience some different people. You were the only girl I ever knew! You can't blame me for being curious!"

"And you can't blame me for being jealous!" Bulma replied, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "After that first adventure to get the Dragonballs, you said you didn't need anyone else but me. Do you have any idea how special I thought that was? Then...then you just went and found other girls and left me like a worn out shirt in the back of your closet. Good enough to wear when you needed comfort but not good enough to wear everyday."

"That's not true!" He sighed and lowered his eyes. "Look, I was just a kid. I'm sorry I made you feel that way. I just wanted to make sure...that you were really the one for me." He walked over and ran his hand through her hair and cradled her cheek tenderly in his palm. "You are Bulma." 

Bulma blinked the tears from her eyes. "I had always known that you were the one for me, Yaumcha. But your uncertainty in our relationship made me question what I thought I knew and I realized that you were not for me at all."

Yaumcha stammered, "Bulma...."

"I'll always be your friend Yaumcha, but I don't ever want to have this conversation again. Understand?"

Yaumcha, left utterly speechless, pleaded with his eyes for her to change her mind. Bulma stared right back, her gaze cold and unwavering.

"I'll go..then." Yaumcha said and hastily broke away, leaving his former love alone in her dining room. Bulma sank to the carpet, took a deep breath and shed a few final tears, never to cry over him again.

Vegeta stood in the kitchen, smiling. He tried to ignore the nagging voice at the back of his mind reminding him that he was eavesdropping on trivial human affairs. The fact that scar face was now out of the picture pleased him more than it should have.

"I just can't believe it!" Mrs. Briefs sobbed. "You two were together so long. And he proposed marriage too?"

Bulma sighed but didn't reply. She took another sip of her coffee.

"There, there, dear." Dr. Briefs said consolingly and handed his wife a tissue. She blew her nose loudly. "Bulma must've had good reason to end it, didn't you Bulma."

"He's never been committed." Bulma replied.

"But..marriage!" Mrs. Briefs exclaimed. "How much more committed can you get?"

"I know he didn't mean it." Bulma stated patiently. "Yaumcha looked to the future and didn't see anything for him. Asking me to start a family with him is just his way of dealing with his mixed up life. He needs to organize himself and stop looking for me to do it for him. To be honest ,I should have done this years ago but I was too wrapped up the image of an ideal boyfriend to notice."

"It's all so sad." Mrs. Briefs sobbed and stood up. "I'm gonna go watch some talk shows to make me feel better."

She retreated into the living room.

Dr. Briefs sat down at the table across from his daughter and lit a cigarette. " Are you sure that's the reason, Hon? I mean, it's not because of …"

"Vegeta? Of course not! I'm barely on speaking terms with him. Why would I dump Yaumcha just because that annoying alien seems to have some silly crush on me?"

"About that, I think it'd be beneficial for Vegeta if you tried to be a little less…hostile towards him."

"Excuse me?"

"He's really struggling with his emotions right now. He doesn't need any added frustration."

Bulma couldn't believe he'd ask her that. "Did I tell you what he did to me while you were away?"

"Yes, and that was very mean of him, but you have to understand that Vegeta doesn't know how to act any other way. No one taught him how to get along with other people."

"He's a Saiyan, I don't think any of them would've taught their children how to get along with other people."

"Someone taught him something at some point." Dr. briefs replied gently.

"Yeah, how to kill people."

Dr. Briefs sighed.

"Please Bulma, just try to be a little more patient with him. No more loud arguments. No more throwing things or name-calling. OK?"

"I'll try." Bulma replied. "But I'm not promising anything."

"Good enough."

Vegeta walked in from outside and went straight to the fridge. The distinctive smell of Saiyan body odor permeated the room.

"Training again, that's good." Bulma said pleasantly without the slightest hint of instigation.

"I'm making absolutely no progress thanks to you!" Vegeta said nastily as he rummaged through the fridge.

Bulma's face scrunched up and she looked as if she were about to snap back with something. Dr. Briefs shot her a warning look. Forcefully, she smiled.

Vegeta dropped a mound of food on the table between father and daughter, then went back for more.

"I've got some data to analyze." Dr. Briefs announced and started to leave. "Bye kids."

Vegeta grunted at being called a kid. He plunked himself down where Dr. Briefs had been and started in on his lunch. Bulma could only see the tip of his upswept coif the pile was so big.

"Where do you Saiyans put all that food?" Bulma asked. "There must be twice your weight there."

There was a slight pause, and then she heard Vegeta swallowing. "Our metabolism makes us need this much food. A Saiyan can starve to death in the matter of two days if the circumstances are against him." Vegeta replied matter of factly.

"Interesting."

"Hmph!"

There was another lengthy silence. 

"So, on your planet, did Saiyans do nothing but train all the time?"

Vegeta didn't answer her. Bulma waited a minute. "Vegeta?"

"I'm eating, woman! Leave me alone!" 

"I was just trying to have a conversation."

"Saiyans don't converse over such trivialities!"

"All Saiyans or just you?"

"I'm the only Saiyan here aren't I?"

Bulma huffed, getting just a _little_ annoyed at him.

"How bout we talk about training then? That's not a triviality is it?"

Vegeta growled at her.

"There's nothing to talk about in that respect!" He replied. "I haven't been training."

"But you're all sweaty!" Bulma observed. She could see Vegeta's beautifully ripped arm where it rested casually on the table. It glistened in the sunlight pouring in from the window. Bulma smiled and looked at it again. Vegeta noticed this over his ever-dwindling pile of food. Bulma abruptly met his gaze and he blushed slightly, then plowed into his food again to hide his embarrassment.

Bulma giggled at him actually acting bashful. Vegeta growled at the fact she thought it was so amusing.

"If you haven't been training, why are you sweaty?" Bulma teased.

"It's hot out today. The gravity room is like an oven!" 

"Why didn't you say so? There's an air conditioner in there; I'll show you how to use it. Will that solve your training problem?"

"No, it will not." 

"Then what is your problem?" 

__

You're my problem! Vegeta nearly yelled. He was now leaning over the table looking down upon her. His eye twitched visibly and large drops of sweat beaded down his large forehead. He closed his eyes, inhaled slow and deep, and then sat back down. 

Bulma looked worried. "This lapse in training is probably your body's way of telling you that it needs a break. I think maybe you're trying to hard."

Vegeta focused on her and his eyes shot lasers her way.

"You think _maybe_ I'm trying _too_ hard?"

Bulma looked at him long and hard. "Yes." She said solemnly.

Vegeta got up violently, knocking his chair to the floor.

"You know nothing!" He hissed and went back outside to the sweltering gravity room.


	5. Midnight Ice Cream & The Living Room Cru...

****

The Second Worst Thing 

Chapter 5: Midnight Ice Cream and the Living Room Cruise 

By senzubean

I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.

Vegeta had never been angrier in his life. _I thought she understood! I must be a Super Saiyan. I was supposed to be **the** Super Saiyan! **Trying too hard**! She's an idiot. How can I try **too **hard when that moron Kakarrot **didn't try at all**! She's an imbecile! Why couldn't I see that before? Before my heart decided to give itself to her!_

Vegeta fell from where he'd been shadow boxing in mid-air. He smashed into the floor and winced in pain as 200X gravity forced him to the floor, squeezing the air out of him. _How could she not understand?_

She had spouted off the importance of his training to her parents. He had thought she was saying that he was a valuable asset to the safety of Earth. Not that he cared about Earth or the rest of its people besides her. 

__

I thought she understood. I thought I was special to her.

Rage welled up inside him. He lurched off the floor and commenced his shadow boxing again, more intensely than he ever had before.

3 A.M

Vegeta walked into the kitchen slightly winded. He hadn't stopped training all day. This was a new record even for him. His stomach made noises that could be easily heard from an outsider's perspective and it flip flopped like an angry child having a tantrum. He was intent on emptying the first thing he saw in that Fridge into his mouth, no matter what it was. It could be a bottle of barbecue sauce for all Vegeta cared.

Someone was already at the fridge.

__

Curses! Damn whoever that is to Hades! Vegeta screamed in his mind. Bulma popped up holding an entire tub of chocolate ice cream, a can of whipped cream and a bottle of maraschino cherries. When she shut the door and turned towards him, she was wearing nothing but a tank top and panties.

"Oh, hi Vegeta. I didn't hear you come in."

Vegeta blushed a deep crimson.

__

Remember that you're disgusted with her!

He slightly regained his composure as she walked past him and set her snack on the table.

"Oh, I forgot the chocolate syrup." She exclaimed gleefully and ran back to the fridge.

This was how Vegeta saw that they weren't just any panties, but thong panties.

His whole body got hot and he turned blood red in the face. This little turn of events had not helped his improving training situation at all. He all but forgot about why he had been so utterly enraged at her and couldn't stop thinking about how much he adored every single part of her. Intellectual and physical. Boy was he liking the physical right now.

"Have some ice cream with me." Bulma suggested and she went to get two sets of ice cream eating dishes.

Vegeta didn't answer, he stood there completely frozen unable to even think of how to react to anything.

"It's going to melt." Bulma warned as she started in on hers.

"I'm not hungry." Vegeta mumbled. His stomach groaned punctuating that sentence.

"Liar." Bulma laughed. "C'mon, eat your ice-cream then I'll make you some more stuff."

Vegeta turned and walked towards the table, making sure to look at anything else along the way but her.

He sat down, stared right into this sundae bowl, then started eating it. He made a very disgusted face.

Bulma looked at him in disbelief. "You don't like it?"

"No." Vegeta replied and pushed the bowl in her direction. "You can have it."

"You are so weird! Everyone likes ice-cream."

"Hmph." Vegeta replied and crossed is arms over his chest. Bulma got up to get him something else. 

"You're funny. What didn't you like about it?" 

"It's excessively sweet."

Bulma laughed as she prepared a sandwich. Vegeta watched her ice cream melt. She plopped the massive sandwich down in front of him. Half of it had disappeared by the time she'd sat back in her spot.

She babbled on and on about everything she'd doe that day. Every single little thing. Vegeta noticed that she left out their little confrontation at the breakfast table. He'd finished his meal long ago, but he dare not move or even look at her. Sometimes he'd grunt as to let her know that he was actually listening to her. Vegeta couldn't take it anymore when she started to go into the events of the day before.

"Why are you up so late?" He asked, interrupting her.

"I forgot to tell you. I designed a new training bot for you." 

Vegeta raised his eyes. "You did?" He asked then nearly choked. Bulma was leaning on her arms allowing him to see a good deal of cleavage. He blushed again. It took all of Bulma's will power to keep her from laughing at him. 

__

Poor guy doesn't know what to do with himself!

"It's almost ready. You'll have to promise to be careful with it though. It's a little more dangerous than the others." 

Vegeta looked at her impressed.

"Actually it's a lot more dangerous." She added. "It'll be done tomorrow." She brought the dishes over to the sink.

"Thank you." Vegeta replied.

"You're… huh?" Bulma looked up utterly shocked that he'd thanked her, but he had disappeared. 

Vegeta would train for a bit. Then he'd stop and look out the gravity room window. He'd recommence training, then stop, look out the window. Again he would train, stop… and basically continued in this pattern all day.

Finally, just before supper, Bulma came with the training bot.

She carefully explained how to use it and stressed safety tips. She could've been reciting names out of the phone book because Vegeta was merely listening to the sound of her voice. What she was actually saying was inconsequential to him. 

"So, you know which button to press to activate it?"

Vegeta grunted and nodded.

"You know how high it can be safely set?"

Vegeta grunted and nodded.

"You remember how to turn it off properly?"

Vegeta grunted and nodded.

"You admit that you'll never get better than Goku?"

Vegeta grunted and nodded. 

Bulma glared at him. "I guess I'll just have to explain it all over again."

Vegeta smirked, liking that idea. Now she'd stay longer.

"Vegeta, I really want you to pay attention this time. I 'd feel terrible if you got hurt by using this device."

"Even if it would get rid of me?" He joked.

"That's not funny. If my Dad finds out I built this for you…"

"I'm not going to tell him."

"Maybe I shouldn't have made this for you."

"Why did you make it? Didn't you say I needed a break?"

Bulma shrugged. "To us it seems you're overdoing it. But it's probably normal for Saiyans, being born warriors and all."

"Not really."

"Then maybe you should take a break. You're going to seriously hurt yourself."

"Hmph." Vegeta grunted. "Better me hurting myself than Kakarrot." He said. Bulma opened up her mouth to protest that. "Or an android." He added.

Bulma heaved a sigh and bent down to tinker with the new training bot.

"I really shouldn't have given this to you."

Vegeta crouched down so his eyes were level with hers.

"Why? Are you afraid of me hurting myself or others when this business in three years is through."

"Vegeta…" Bulma said, half in exasperation. "I don't care what you did."

"Is that the truth, Bulma."

They slowly inched closer and closer to each other. 

"Yes." She breathed, the word slipping past her lips, and then they met those of the Saiyan Prince.

Vegeta gathered her body towards him, ran his hand through her silky hair, and kissed her gently. Their lips drifted apart, Bulma looked up at his face, smiled, and put her head on his shoulder.

"We're going on a cruise!" Mrs. Briefs exclaimed at Vegeta when he entered the living room. She was wearing a very large straw hat with big satin flowers on it and a dress to match. Dr. briefs was wearing the same thing he always did. The only thing fitting for a cruise was his sandals, but he was still wearing socks in them.

"When did you decide this?" Bulma asked her Mother.

"Sometimes it's fun to do impulsive things." Dr. Briefs said. "We'll be back in two weeks." 

Dr. and Mrs. Briefs departed quickly to avoid any protests, questions or pleadings. 

"I'd like to go on a cruise." Bulma pouted.

"What's a 'cruise'?" Vegeta asked, curious for once.

"It's when you go on a huge boat with lots of food, pools, and lawn chairs."

"Sounds boring." Vegeta replied.

"That's the whole point. Besides, there's usually some interesting visuals."

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow. Visuals could mean anything.

Bulma clasped her hands to her chest and looked up at the ceiling. 

"Nice, handsome men, with big muscles you can grasp on to, and that smell of violets and who bring you pina coladas at just the right moment." Bulma sighed. Vegeta didn't like where this was headed.

"Actually that could be you, if you had a pina colada and didn't smell of B.O."

Vegeta backed up a little. "Does this look like a boat to you?"

Bulma smiled slyly and advanced on him. "We could use our imaginations."

"Have I ever told you about my childhood? I have a severely underdeveloped imagination!"

Bulma stopped and looked at him seriously. "No, you never have."

"I'm not going to tell you either."

Bulma looked intensely hurt. Vegeta looked at the floor. He hated that look. She was the one creature in the universe that he would never consider hurting to get what he wanted.

"I have to go train." He said finally and started to leave.

"Vegeta." She called. "All kidding aside, would you ever consider... you know."

"Of course." He replied. "But I won't do it."

Bulma looked at him in utter confusion. "Why not."

"Because, you…you haven't. That is, I don't think you…"

"You don't think I what?"

Vegeta looked at the ground again. 

"Love you?"

Vegeta started at that. Then he made a groan of uncertainty.

Bulma walked over and kissed him. They latched on to each other, both thoroughly enjoying the embrace. 

Abruptly, Vegeta broke away. "That proves nothing."

"What? Kissing is the ultimate symbol of love on this planet, especially the way we're doing it."

"A symbol can mean nothing depending on the circumstances." Vegeta replied.

"Geeze! You asked to copulate with me before I showed you any sort of affection. Now we're swapping saliva and groping each other and you don't want to go to third base!" She pushed away from him.

"I can't believe you! Are you that controlling that you have to designate every single thing that happens between us? Well I'll have you know Vegeta; I won't stand for it! This just isn't about you…."

Bulma could no longer rant with Vegeta's tongue filling her mouth. He kissed her roughly, a stark contrast from the gentle attention he had been giving her for the last few weeks. He held her entire weight with his right arm, cradling her back. His left hand moved from caressing her head and slid down her side ending up grasping her rear end. 

Bulma wrenched her lips from his.

"Wh..what changed your mind?"

Vegeta chuckled. "Sometimes it's fun to do impulsive things."

"Where do you wanna…"

"Here's good." He replied as he lowered them both to the carpet.


	6. And The World Comes Crashing Down

****

The Second Worst Thing 

Chapter 6: And The World Comes Crashing Down 

By senzubean

I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.

300X Normal gravity.

Vegeta had never trained so well in his entire life. The blue-haired earthling no longer plagued him now that she was his.

__

His mate.

The new training bot was allowing him to ascend quickly to new levels. It was a perfect machine. God he loved that woman. And not just because she created revolutionary training equipment solely for him. And not because she had copulated with him in nearly every room of the Briefs mansion within the past two weeks, which Vegeta found impressive. She was just always there for him. If he needed her, she would be there waiting. He had yet to go to her, having conquered all the troubling things plaguing his mind but the idea of her being there was enough. It was the most secure thing he had ever had in his life. And now that he had actually succeeded in getting at least one thing he had set out for, he was in a renewed mindset to claim the rest. The Power of the Super Saiyan and Kakarrot's submission were close at hand. 

Due to the new boost in confidence, Vegeta was able to train day in, day out without distraction.

"VEGETA!"

Vegeta turned to look at the video screen that had the nasty ability to appear whenever Bulma wanted..

"What?"

"We need to talk."

Vegeta sighed.

"I have no time to talk. Don't you realize I already wasted nearly three months?"

"Please."  
Vegeta glared at her, the reluctantly lowered himself to the ground.

Inside, Bulma was tapping her foot impatiently as she sat at the coffee table.

"Make it quick, woman."

Bulma was un-impressed with his statement. "Vegeta, this relationship of ours needs some working on."

"What part?"

"All of it!" Bulma snapped.

Vegeta huffed in annoyance.

"I mean it Vegeta, You're acting just like Yaumcha used to."

"You're comparing me to that pathetic human you dumped like garbage." He erupted.

"You're not paying any attention to me."

Vegeta growled. "What is it with you and your 'attention'? If I'm not in here clinging to you, you feel neglected. Hmph!" Vegeta scoffed. 

"It just seems that if you're not training, then you're having sex with me."

"Oh don't make me out to be the sex fiend, you're the one who pushed the sex."

"Whatever!" Bulma snapped angry that he was right. "I need more than just sex."

"You have more than just sex!"

"What? What do I have?"

"Me!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just what I said. I have nothing else to give you." Vegeta replied.

"You're not even trying to give me something else."

Vegeta closed his eyes, trying to keep his patience. "I don't understand."

"I need you to be here for me. All the time!"

Vegeta looked at her in disbelief. "Are you suggesting I give up training?"

"If you loved me you would!"

"If _you_ loved _me_ you would know not to ask that."

"Is it so hard, Vegeta? To give up fighting for the person you love."

"You have no idea what you're saying. Think for a moment why I will say no."

"If you loved me…"

Vegeta growled and walked away. "You're being foolish. Talk to me when you get you're senses together."

Bulma shook in rage.

"No!"

Vegeta stopped and looked back.

"No, if you won't give up what you love for me than you're not the one I want!"

"You mean… You.." Vegeta stammered.

Bulma crossed her arms and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I don't want to be your girlfriend anymore."

"You mean you don't want to be..my mate."

"No. I should have known better. This would have never worked out. It's not all your fault."

Vegeta clenched his fists, his eyes. He turned his back on her so she wouldn't see…

"No, I should've known better!"

He turned around with a face so viscous it frightened Bulma.

"Vegeta don't.." The area around his ice-cold stare caught her attention. Tears had welled up and threatened to drop down his face at any second.

Vegeta felt a red-hot rage burning inside him. He was hurt. So hurt. He could kill her.

__

No, I couldn't.

He barged out of the house, back into the night. 

Bulma ran to the window but didn't see him. The look on his face. The murderous glare. Bulma knew she had done something awful.

The ground started to rumble, shaking the house.

"Oh god no!" She tried to run outside, to try and take back what she'd said. A massive tremor knocked her off her feet and onto the floor. 

From her position on the floor she saw the gravity room, a working space capsule, take off into the starry sky. 

Tears poured from her eyes. She felt nothing inside of her. A vacant empty hollow, black as the sky her Prince had just retreated into. She'd pushed him away. Her prince. Her prince that would become a murderer again. And it was all her fault.

"Goku! Goku! GOKUUU!!"

The warriors stopped their sparring and looked down at a livid Chi-Chi.

"We're almost done Chi-Chi. Five more minutes OK?" Goku pleaded with his overly assertive wife.

"You have to come home now! Bulma's on the phone and she's hysterical!"

Piccolo and Goku exchanged nervous glances.

Moments later in the house, Goku went straight to the phone, everyone, even Piccolo, crowded around him so closely that the Saiyan barely had any room to breathe.

"What's happened, Bulma?"

Goku held the phone away from his head as Bulma bawled her explanation into the receiver.

"Woah, I can't understand a thing you're saying. Just calm down. Good, that's better. Now, let's try it again…what? WHAT ? WHAAAAAAAAT?"

Everyone gaped at him. 

"Dad, what's wrong?" Gohan asked.

Goku turned to Piccolo. "BULMA SAID VEGETA LEFT THE PLANET AND SHE DOESN'T THINK HE'S COMING BACK!"

Piccolo's jaw dropped shock. Gohan looked confused as to why Piccolo and his father thought that was such a bad thing.

"Well good riddance!" Chi-Chi stated.

Goku turned on her. "You don't understand! Vegeta has to come back because he's… MMMPPPHHH!" Goku struggled to get Piccolo's hand away from his mouth. Piccolo picked up the receiver.

"Bulma."

"Piccolo?" Bulma stated confused between sobs. Then she started bawling again. "Vegeta left and he's gonna do something awful I just know! I made him evil again! I'm a terrible person!" She kept wailing in the namek's ear, who at this point was hoping she hadn't deafened him. "Y..you two guys could go after him. Please? My Dad's got another ship! I'd go myself but I know he just wouldn't listen to me!"

"That won't be necessary, Bulma. Vegeta will come back He won't want to miss the fight with the androids."

Piccolo's sentence reminded her of the androids, she'd gotten so caught up in herself that she'd completely forgotten about them. She thought Vegeta was training to just surpass Goku, and she hated to think that her love considered defeating another man, and her best friend at that, instead of spending time with her. Now it made sense. He was training to protect her. That's what he meant by giving himself to her. Bulma collapsed off her chair and wreaked painful sobs.

On the other end, Piccolo handed the phone back to Goku. "Console her. And remember to choose your words _carefully_." He warned.

"Right." Goku laughed and scratched the back of his head with his free hand.


	7. Can a Saiyan's Heart be Mended?

****

The Second Worst Thing 

Chapter 7: Can a Saiyan's Heart be Mended?

By senzubean

I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.

1 year later.

Vegeta landed on Planet Earth on the exact spot he'd left it. He stared at the door to the ship. He would go out. Demand another of the excellent suits of armor his former mate had designed and leave. It wasn't that he wanted to ask her for anything. His pride was stabbing his insides. It just frustrated him that he had to do this. His armor was battered and broken, he could not go to battle in beat up armor. It was bad luck.

Just as he had expected, she was waiting at the bottom of the gangplank. Her hair was shorter, but the rest of her was unchanged. Vegeta corrected that observation when he got face to face with her. Her eyes were different. The lively pools of bright blue had become somewhat faded.

"Woman, I require a new combat suit before the battle. How early am I?"

"A good two months." Bulma replied a touch of pain in her voice. Vegeta ignored it. He was a little disappointed that he'd arrived so early. _No matter. I'll meditate in the woods._

"The armor is essential. As soon as I have it I will go."

"Go where?"

Vegeta ignored this too. He then noticed Bulma was holding something, since it stirred and made a whimpering noise.

"Is that another pet?" Vegeta asked distastefully. Was she so desperate for attention that she needed to carry an animal around with her all day long?

"No. It's a baby."

"A baby"

Bulma nodded.

Vegeta looked at the bundle; its face was covered from the chilly night air.

"Hmph! You didn't waste any time did you? Getting back with that human who apparently wasn't the one for you either."

"Yaumcha? You think this is Yaumcha's baby?" Bulma asked bewildered.

"Who else's could it be? I was only gone a year. That's not much time to find a new man, establish a relationship and then have a baby. I know you're not a whore, so Yaumcha is the only logical explanation."

"This isn't Yaumcha's baby."

"So I was wrong." Vegeta laughed. "And why not? I've been wrong about everything else in my whole entire life!"

Bulma started to cry. "No. You're not wrong I was. I was so wrong. This is your child."

"What?" Vegeta gasped.

"This is your son." She collapsed against him. He felt her tears permeate the skin on his cheek. He felt the baby stirring against his chest armor, he heard it start to cry along with his mother.

"I'm so sorry, Vegeta. I hurt you so badly and you didn't deserve it. I was so stupid." She cried, gasping to claim some air to continue. "Please forgive me! Please! I love you! I never wanted you to go!"

Vegeta stepped away from her, causing her to stumble forward before catching herself. 

"It sounded like you did! Funny how a brat changes your perspective on things. Your people don't look highly on mothers who can't show of the father along with the baby, do they? Well I refuse to be an image for you! You pitied me, didn't you?"

"A little.."

"Well, I won't be pitied!" He turned to leave.

"No! No wait! I don't pity you! And I don't want you to stay for the benefit of image! I..I knew I had made a mistake as soon as you left the house that night. I felt so terrible and when the baby came..I felt even worse. The thought of having ruined any relationship with you…depriving you of your son….I could never be forgiven for that. Vegeta, I am truly sorry."

Vegeta didn't look at her, but he made no motion of leaving.

"You really hurt me woman." He stated solemnly. "I trusted you and you….." He gasped, trying to contain his temper. Trying so hard not to fly of the handle and ruin things forever. He had to try and find it inside him to forgive her. _I **have** to try and care about her._

"I've never trusted anyone..not since I was very young." He paused, turned and looked at her right in the eyes. 

"That child can trust me to be here for him if ever he needs me." Bulma's face lit up with profound joy. " As for you, I may never be able to trust you again."

Her face fell, but decided to push things no further.

"Now, I'm hungry!" He said and headed towards the house.

"Don't you even want to see your son?"

"It's not like he's going anywhere."

Bulma grumbled and concentrated on being thankful that he'd come back at all.

Saying that Dr. and Mrs. Briefs were happy to see him would be an understatement. Mrs. Briefs knocked him over and then had to be pried from around his neck. While they were all making food for him, Vegeta decided he might as well have a look at his offspring. He went to the bassinet and looked at the baby's serene sleeping form.

"What the…..WOMAN!"

"Yes?" Bulma called from the kitchen. 

"THIS BRAT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE A SAIYAN! YOU TRICKED ME! IT'S NOT MINE!"

"Oh he's yours all right! Take a look at his face and say that he isn't."

By now, the kid was screaming. Vegeta had to admit that the tiny scowl was definitely his.

He looked at the child disgustedly. 

__

At least a person could mistake Kakarrot's kid for a Saiyan, until he opens his mouth and starts babbling sentimental nonsense. 

The thought of Gohan reminded Vegeta of an important Saiyan attribute that he'd overlooked, seeing that Vegeta himself no longer possessed this attribute.

Vegeta flipped the baby over in order to look at his backside.

"WOMAN!"

"Yes, Vegeta." Bulma said getting somewhat exasperated.

"WAS THIS CHILD NOT BORN WITH A TAIL?"

Bulma sighed knowing exactly what was coming. "He was born with one but I had it surgically removed."

"WHY WOULD YOU DO A THING LIKE THAT? WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU MUTILATING YOUR CHILD?"

"I 'mutilated him' so that his Daddy wouldn't show him how to use one of those fake moons and scare the daylights out of me!"

__

Dammit. That would've been humorous.

While Vegeta was busy fuming over the physical appearance of his first born and only son, the child in question was spazzing because he had been woken up by a cranky, screaming man, who had flipped him over and stole his bed-coverings.

Bulma marched in. "What are you doing, Vegeta?" She saw the state of her child.

"Awww, Trunks, what has your mean ol' Daddy done to you?" Bulma worked on getting Trunks comfortable again. Happy to be saved by his mother he stopped crying.

Vegeta ran that sentence through his mind a few times. He understood the meaning of it, save for one word.

"Trunks?"

"That's his name."

"WHAAAAAAAT?! HE'S SUPPOSED TO HAVE MY NAME!"

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE BOTHERING THE BABY!"

"WOMAN! I HAVE HAD JUST ABOUT ENOUGH OF YOU, THAT KID, AND THE REST OF THIS STUPID PLANET!"

"OH GO TRAIN OR SOMETHING. YOU STILL HAVE TWO MONTHS TO BECOME A SUPER SAIYAN."

"I've all ready done that." Vegeta replied, not believing he'd actually forgotten to tell her._ Amazing how brats mess up your priorities._

"Really? That's wonderful. I'm so proud of you!" Bulma said and flung herself around his neck.

Vegeta stood there, enjoying the fact that at least one other person besides himself was proud of his stunning accomplishments. Then he realized.

"Wait a minute? You didn't think I'd be able to do it?"

Bulma let him go and laughed nervously. "I never said that."

"Yes you did. You told me to go train so I could do it, so therefore, you didn't even consider the fact that I may have done it all ready." He turned away in disgust and crossed his arms. "Hmph!" 

"Well the main thing is that you did it."

"Yes, and as soon as _I_ defeat the androids, I will proceed to kick Kakarrot's ass." He smirked evilly, but it fell into disgust again. "I can't believe you didn't think I could do it." He then walked out of the room and into the kitchen to eat.

Bulma watched him go, then heaved a very tired sigh. "What have I gotten myself into?"


End file.
